"The United States is in the midst of a prescription drug abuse epidemic as addiction, overdoses and deaths associated with non-medical drug use have risen dramatically over the last decade. In 2009, U.S. drug overdose deaths outnumbered motor vehicle accident deaths for the first time," writes Wendy Cloe, a director at Emdeon, in her latest blog.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in defense of the patent protecting its $4 billion multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, according to a Reuters report.

As the Food and Drug Administration begins to explore ways to improve its user-fee program for generic drugs, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association and its members have weighed in with suggestions on how to shore up the law to ensure that it helps bring generics to market faster and provides benefits across the entire healthcare system.

The big story in the digestives space is the switch and launch in May of Pfizer’s Nexium 24HR. In a little more than 10 weeks on the shelf, the brand has generated $53.6 million in sales across total U.S. multi-outlets for the 52 weeks ended Aug. 10, according to IRI.

Twenty African-American and Hispanic community and health care organizations earlier this month submitted a letter to the Food and Drug Administration raising concerns that its Proposed Rule on Generic Labeling could jeopardize patient safety and access to affordable medicines.

To shed light on the topic of prescription-related fines and to discuss the role that her company Healthcare Data Solutions can play in retail pharmacy, DSNTV recently talked with Miranda Rochol, VP product and strategy at Healthcare Data Solutions, for the latest installment of DSN’s Executive Viewpoint video series.

What retail chain has more stores than any other U.S. company, with plans to open an astonishing 700 new locations this year alone, while approaching $20 billion in revenue and maintaining sales and profit momentum? It¹s Dollar General, the storied Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based small-box discount giant celebrating its 75th year in business. Download this exclusive report.

New patient research commissioned by McKesson Patient Relationship Solutions identified emerging trends in medication adherence, the use of co-pay cards, and attitudes towards healthcare providers, including both physicians and pharmacists.

Kicking off American Pharmacists Month this year on Oct. 2 was the second annual #Pharmacist tweet-a-thon. Highlighting the important role pharmacists have in patient care, their communities and the broader healthcare landscape, more than 11,000 tweets with the hashtag #Pharmacist were sent during the 24-hour period — some 467 an hour, according to healthcare social media watcher Symplur.

At a time when nearly every media outlet is covering Ebola, Enterovirus D-68, or a new outbreak of an infectious disease, the American Pharmacists Association is reminding Americans that the nation’s pharmacists are ready to help.

Congress and the sports nutrition industry independently called upon the Food and Drug Administration to act on removing an untested synthetic stimulant that was found in 12 products marketed as sports nutrition supplements.

Pending legislation in the Pennsylvania state legislature is raising the eyebrows of several industry members, including the National Community Pharmacists Association, which stated that the legislation in its current form would "severely limit access to more affordable medications, vastly increase overall healthcare costs to Pennsylvania businesses and citizens and add cumbersome reporting requirements on healthcare providers."

According to IRI Sales Data, 52 weeks ending 9/7/2014, Jet-Alert has sold more caffeine tablets than any other brand. Jet-Alert™ fast acting, easy to take caffeine pills have been on store shelves since 1984 and are available in Regular Strength (100mg), Double Strength (200mg) and 200mg Softgel formulas.

Specialty drug spending continues to rise and is predicted to grow by more than 16% annually from 2015 to 2018. CVS Health researchers examine the reasons for such dramatic increases in spending and discuss tools to help manage these escalating costs.

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Are we in the midst of a beauty revolution? Perhaps. It is no secret that the ever-changing beauty category is all about trends, but one could argue that we are embarking on an especially interesting time in beauty as technology is changing the way consumers shop and new innovations strive to break through the noise.

In this beauty report, Drug Store News takes a deeper dive into some of the leading trends that are reshaping beauty.more ...

IN THIS ISSUE

In this issue, DSN examines PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Top Health Industry Issues for 2015;" takes you on a tour of Murad, shares beauty trends and insights and delves into location-based technology and how it is revolutionizing health, retail.Click here to view the issue.